The trailer for Predator: Badlands makes a hero out of a fearsome hunter, but also teases links to the Alien franchise and more…
The internet being the leaky place that it is, there have been rumours for a while now that forthcoming sequel Predator: Badlands would make a protagonist out of its titular big game hunter. The teaser trailer, which emerged yesterday (see below) confirms this, but also backs up another longstanding theory: that the film will cross over in some way with the Alien franchise.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who previously made the terrific Prey in 2022, the sequel’s set in the distant future. It sees Schuster-Koloamatangi’s young outcast Predator team up with an android named Thia, played by Elle Fanning, with the pair going “on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary” per a synopsis.
Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed that Thia isn’t just any old android, though: she was made by Weyland Yutani, as revealed in a brief shot where her eyes roll over to reveal the company’s brave corporate logo. It’s a direct reference to 2024’s Alien: Romulus, in which we saw David Jonsson’s artificial human Andy pull off the same logo reveal with his own eyes.
This, and other glimpses of the Weyland Yutani logo, again establish that the worlds of Predator and Alien are one and the same. These universes have crossed over before, of course, both in movies and other media, but 2004’s Alien Vs Predator and 2007’s Alien Vs Predator: Requiem are regarded as non-canon these days, so there was no guarantee that 20th Century Studios would be in a rush to slam the two properties together again.
Recent years have brought up the subject of making another Alien Vs Predator movie, though, with Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez half-jokingly saying last year that he and his “buddy” Trachtenberg could one day team up to make a crossover film, much as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez once did with From Dusk Til Dawn.
The trailer for Predator: Badlands could hint that a clash between a Predator and an Alien might happen in this very movie – the synopsis’s mention of an “ultimate adversary” potentially also referring to the xenomorph. Or, at the very least, the sprinkling of Weyland Yutani logos is a tease for an Alien Vs Predator movie further down the line.
There’s also another little tease earlier in the trailer: a skull that clearly belonged to one of the alien invaders from 1996’s Independence Day. This one’s almost certainly just a fun easter egg, though.
Unlike Prey, which went straight to Disney+, Predator: Badlands is getting a proper cinema release on the 7th November. Before that, we’re getting the feature-length animation, Predator: Killer Of Killers, due to appear on Disney+ on the 6th June. TV spin-off Alien: Earth is also scheduled to hit the same service this summer (date: TBA), while Fede Alvarez is busy working away on a sequel to Alien: Romulus.
Whether they’re big and bulky or fast and shrieky, that’s a lot of aliens heading for our location. In the meantime, here’s the Predator: Badlands trailer in case you haven’t seen it yet:
